Commitment
by a puzzling conundrum
Summary: [Agencycentric][Spoilers for Editor in Chief] Planning a conspiracy can be, in some circumstances, surprisingly uneventful work.


Setting up a conspiracy wasn't _that_ hard. Quite unexpectedly, it didn't require neither amazing cunning, nor particularly malicious intentions or an evil organization- no, that one could come in handy, but one could easily omit the "evil" part.

It did, first of all, require a lot of paperwork.

Itsuki became convinced of that when he had begun working out the plan of distracting Suzumiya by making her the center of the student council's conspiracy, aiming to cease the existence of her brigade in a fairly discreet (and easy to thwart) manner. The concept was rather appealing (and in this case, pleasantly clichéd) and not excessively hard to execute, and the higher-ups approved of it. The most problematic part, most likely, would be finding someone appropriate for the position of the president at school: making him win in the elections wasn't something that couldn't be accomplished with the Agency's funds.

...It was just that the objectives had to be written down, the predicted sequence of events meticulously numbered, the aforementioned funds assigned to the respective elements of the electoral campaign of someone that wasn't even known to him for now.

The pile on Itsuki's desk, consisting of reports and documents he had to file, surely didn't look reassuring or particularly encouraging. The work was rather tedious: it couldn't help but remind him that he indeed liked (despite his close schoolmate's scepticism and disbelief) staying for club activities after school.

At least he was glad that most of the budget planning could be left to his colleagues. Despite being good at maths, he wouldn't have exactly called calculating the necessary and possible expenses a very enjoyable activity. Besides, that'd only make him wonder why so much funds would be needed to win the elections for a rather ordinary student council: and what would questioning a task he'd have to perform bring?

* * *

He couldn't deny that he was rather proud of himself for scouting the candidate for the position relatively quickly. Finding someone with an attitude that matched Suzumiya's probable image of a reckless villan surprisingly well was decidedly a stroke of luck: convincing him to collaborate was another thing entirely. 

However, if there was something that couldn't be achieved by smooth talk alone (and Itsuki firmly believed in the strength of persuasion), it could be most likely achieved by smooth talk _and_ a promise of profits. Among others, lenient treatment from the teachers and having an edge on university exams: these were things that few students wouldn't consider as an incentive, and he was rather glad that the soon-to-be president wasn't an exception. (Soon-to-be, indeed: the thought that despite his efforts the plan might not work out was something he preferred not to dwell on)

There were, of course, a few particularities that had to be taken care of, details that at first sight might have seemed inane. Keeping a formal, distanced style of speech; an impeccable appearance; glasses.

Convincing the president to wear them turned out to be slightly more problematic than he thought: he downright refused, saying that would be turning his task in a farce. Itsuki, therefore, warned him with a beaming smile that the lack of this crucial detail would reduce his profits by one fourth. The president only sighed and reluctantly complied to that rather absurd (yet important, because after all, there was a _certain person_ who couldn't image such a character without glasses) demand.

Itsuki considered cheering him up with the argument that he'll most likely worsen his sight because of the student council work anyway, but had the impression he would probably achieve the opposite.

* * *

A few days after the school-wide elections, Itsuki approached the board announcing the results. Upon seeing them, he breathed a sigh of relief - more for the dramatic effect that anything else. If there was something that could be expected from the Agency, it was the fact that it managed to fulfill its long-worked on plans with plausible efficiency. 

The report he had to file that day felt almost pleasant to write. However, in terms of pleasure, it couldn't be compared to the one he filled out almost half a year later, when Suzumiya was beaming after the spectacular and very expected defeat of the evil bespectacled overlord threatening the existence of her precious brigade - to the less involved known mostly as the student council president.

* * *

"Don't you regret all the resources you spent on me?" the president asked him once, nonchalantly shuffling the papers on his desk - his objective was probably tidying it, but he seemed more involved in moving them from place to place than in organising them in any actual order. 

"No, I don't." Itsuki replied, sounding confident. "You have been of great help to me so far, and besides, it is always useful to have an ally in such a position. And I'm glad you decided to collaborate with us during my second year of high school as well." he added, smiling.

The boy glanced at him and hesitated for a while, as though he wanted to say something - yet in the end only sighed and looked down at his desk, returning to his work. The only sound in the room was now the silent shuffling of the documents, sometimes interrupted by the distant echo of the school's clamour. After a while, Itsuki resumed speaking, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the unexpected silence.

"I could see that Suzumiya was very entertained by the whole endeavour, and this makes me happy enough. So, I suppose filing all these reports was worthwile..." he stated, almost feeling the need to explain his own actions to himself. "Exaggerating, I could almost say I'm keeping the world stable by paperwork." he added, and suddenly started chuckling, making the president look at him with surprise.

"What is it?" he asked, glancing at the boy.

"I just thought," Itsuki replied, suppressing laughter "that Kyon would say it sounds utterly ridiculous. And the whole affair seems like it was taken out of a bad TV drama."

The president smiled, leaning back in his chair and reaching for a cigarette.

"It's the first time I heard you laugh, Koizumi... I didn't expect it to happen for such a trivial reason."

"Most people would describe a job centered around keeping a certain schoolgirl happy as trivial at least, don't you think?" the boy replied, having stopped laughing and heading for the door.

The president gazed at him, then put his glasses back on and muttered:

"I guess I would."

-the end

* * *

_Author's notes: The Agency doesn't have much background information in the books, sadly, so I guess my interpretation of how the whole process might have looked like is fairly liberal: if there's anything you think might have gone differently, feel free to elaborate. :3 I also hope the ending is fairly plausible... I'm not too satisfied with it, to be honest. As usual: point out any errors you spot._

_ Written for Min's prompt "conspiracy".  
_


End file.
